


Flip the Lights and Start My Day

by MakeSomethingUp



Series: Café con Revolution [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Aaallmost coming untouched, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, Crossover, First Kiss, First Time, Flirting, Fluff, Hamilton/In The Heights crossover AU, Implied Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-05-13 18:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5712415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakeSomethingUp/pseuds/MakeSomethingUp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's splice <b>Hamilton</b> with <b>In The Heights!</b></p><p>The entire crew from Hamilton either live or have recently moved within four blocks of Washington Heights.<br/>Alexander and Eliza have a place to themselves in Inwood (shoutout to LMM's hunting grounds).<br/>Lafayette has just moved to *somewhere* round the west side of Harlem.<br/>John is actually based in Washington Heights but he and Laf spend a lot of time at Hamilton's doing revolutionary political and legal-type things on a professional basis.<br/>Angelica and Peggy share an apartment on the northern border of Hamilton Heights (Oh, the irony!!).<br/>The rest as I figure it out.</p><p> <br/><em>Unsavi gets the shit low-key scared outta him when his first customer for the day rocks up to the bodega before he even has. But that's cool. He's kinda cute, yo.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Prob'ly Never Heard My Name

"Good morning!"

An overly cheery voice makes Usnavi jump defensively right as he's unlocking his shopfront door. A telling instinct somewhere deep within him has him swinging the door back closed again before he pauses and squints out at the street. The morning light is shining and golden, and makes the man on his doorstep little more than a harsh silhouette, but as his sleepy eyes adjust bit by bit, Usnavi rearranges his expression to a friendly smile and swings back the door; wide and welcoming to his first customer of the day.

"Hey, man, you really got me for a second there!" He's seen the face before; recognises the guy well enough to turn his back quite comfortably and retreat into the bodega. Can't remember his name just yet, but that probably just means he's never been given it. Usnavi wracks his brain a moment, flitting through their handful of interactions before deciding they've definitely never been formally introduced.

For what it's worth, the dude has a comfortable smile settled on his face as he wanders in after Usnavi. He shoves his hands in his pockets as they take their respective places either side of the counter. Usnavi keeps polite eye contact where he can while he fiddles about with flicking on power to things and bringing out fresh stacks of lighters and gum to further stock the already diminishing counter space.

The cheery guy glances at his feet with a short nervous laugh before bringing his eyes back up to the diligent Dominican.  
"Bit too much pep, bit too early in the morning, huh?" He phrases it as less of a question and more of a suggestion, so Usnavi just replies with an open-mouthed chuckle and turns to check his fridge.  
"Sorry, I think I forget sometimes that normal people aren't quite there with the social functioning thing this early in the day."

Usnavi raises both eyebrows in acknowledgment and nods as he tries to be subtle about sniffing an open carton of milk. "Yup, well, it is pretty early. Normal people don't usually do too well ‘til after they come see me for their coffee."

As soon as the smirk breaks across his features, Usnavi realises it's all come out a little too flirty than he intended. Cheery guy doesn't seem to mind, pausing for a minute to bask in his own amusement, apparently, before remembering why he was in Usnavi's bodega in the first place.  
"Oh, coffee! Yes!"

This dude was definitely making the morning interesting. Usnavi quirks an eyebrow at him before turning round to check on the already-brewing coffee. "So one: two creams, no sugar, and one: one cream, one sugar..?" he reels off over his shoulder as he fiddles. There is a light-hearted scoff behind him and Usnavi grants himself a smug smile while he's still facing away. Damn, he was good.

"Ok, that was... Impressively accurate."

By the time Usnavi spins back around, triumphantly depositing two take-aways on the counter before slumping to his elbows to lean casually on it, the smugness has given way to a much more genuine look of gratitude.  
"Yo, you been in here like four times this last week and it's always the same thing," he offers, almost as a means of comfort. "What's buggin' me right now is I got your order but I still don't got your name..."

There's a moment where Usnavi is worried the guy is considering not continuing their conversation, but after giving him a quick visual once-over, he cocks his head and holds out his hand.

"John," he says, shaking Usnavi's hand with a firm sense of propriety that makes the smaller man immediately rearrange himself into a more upright position. "John Laurens is my name. And yes, that is my coffee order, well done!"

Usnavi gives a little tip of his head as they let go of each other, both looking genuinely pleased with the exchange.  
"Cool to meet you, John Laurens. And, hey, I'm-"

"Usnavi, yes!" John gives an eager nod of his head. "Yeah, it's hard not to learn your name to be honest. Only been up here a two days before someone pointed us in your direction."

Usnavi wrinkles his brow, confused but curious.

"Usnavi! That's who you want!" John makes an exaggerated gesture and gives his best attempt at maybe a Cuban accent. "You need coffee; he's the best around!"

They both break off in giggles; Usnavi's sounding a little incredulous and John's sounding a little embarrassed. John clears his throat and holds out a few dollars to his new acquaintance. He lowers his gaze pointedly and lays a hand each on his two coffees. Usnavi rings him up, holds out some change and gives a gentle huff when John refuses the shrapnel. He brings a hand up to his hat to scratch absent-mindedly at his hairline as John lets the silence run just a second in to socially awkward territory.

"Well, it was nice to properly meet you," John offers, taking a hesitating step backwards.

Usnavi leans down on to the counter again and lets his head bob in a lazy, rhythmic nod. "Same to you, John Laurens."

"Gracias, Usnavi." John holds up the coffees in acknowledgement before spinning on his heal and pushing back out onto the morning street.

Usnavi keeps nodding, eyes following John down the footpath, as Sonny finally tumbles in through the back door, yelling some excuse-de-jour. Usnavi's mouth twitches in to a considering smile as he ventures to think out loud.  
"Man, flirting with guys is so much easier than flirting with girls..."


	2. I Can't Survive Without Café

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's splice **Hamilton** with **In The Heights!**
> 
>  
> 
> _John is disarmingly charming._  
>  _Sonny starts eyeing and prying._  
>  _(Usnavi is written as smitten.)_
> 
>  
> 
> __  
> _More awkward flirting over the counter and then... A kiss._  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are quickly becoming 2000 word fics. I'm worried...

“Who’s that second coffee for..?” Usnavi’s eyes were glossed over, a slightly perplexed look on his face as he knelt in front of the counter, M&Ms in hand.  
Sonny’s faced appeared at the top of his field of vision suddenly.

“Yo, what you say, man?”

The loud intrusion in to his thoughts snapped Usnavi free of them and he crammed random packets of mismatched flavours into whatever place they’d fit in an effort to empty his hands and jump upright. Sonny was still teetering over the countertop, his scuffed sneakers snaking aimless patterns through the air on one side while his head hung over the other.  
Usnavi leant across him to put a firm hand on his ankle and shove it back down to earth. Sonny swung back up to face him, but he made sure to do it as if it had been of his own volition, and not just because of gravity and a gentle reprimand from his cousin.

“Why you always mumbling around the place lately?” Sonny posed accusingly. Usnavi pulled an over-the-top bewildered face and shrugged defensively. “Seriously, I’m, like, gettin’ worried for your health over here.”

Hanging his head for dramatic effect, Usnavi walked over to their front door, pretending some part of it needed cleaning, and gave a tiny chuckle under his breath. Sonny really was a sweet kid. He was loud and he was angry and he was pretty much always late to work and then didn’t do an awful lot of work once he finally got in, but Usnavi knew him well enough to know that his only true fault was that he cared about shit too much. He cared about Usnavi too much, that was for sure. And he could brag and tease and use as much falsified bravado as he liked, Usnavi could always hear the truth in his sarcastic taunting. There was always a little bit of unsettled fear in his eye, if you really looked. And Usnavi was the type of guy to really look at a person.

It had gotten him in trouble of late, actually, because the last person who’s eyes he had really looked in to had stared back with so much certainty and promise and goddamn hunger that he couldn’t stop thinking about them. And now, apparently, he couldn’t stop thinking about them out loud. The amount that he’d been murmuring to himself in the store lately, he probably owed Sonny an answer. Maybe a vague one. But something, sure.

“Ahh,” Usnavi sighed resignedly and swung himself round to address his cousin. “You know that John Laurens guy?”

Sonny scrunched his face up, obviously taken aback. “That one with the long hair? And he always comes in real early and, like, only ever buys coffee?”

“He bought a paper last week...” Usnavi didn’t know why he was defending John Laurens’ spending habits, and neither did Sonny from the comically-wary look on his face.

“So him..?” Sonny offered tentatively.

“So him.” Usnavi swiped at his hat and scraped a hand over his buzzed hair before replacing it with a couple of accompanying adjustment wiggles. He made his way slowly back towards the counter to come face to face with Sonny. “Always coffee. Just coffee-”

“Apart from that one time with the paper-”

“Apart from that one time with the paper, thanks, dude-”

“Welcome.”

Usnavi sighed exasperatedly before attempting to carry on. “So always with the coffee, and it’s always two coffees and it’s always the same two coffees-”

“So who’s the other coffee for...” Sonny seemed to be genuinely pondering the question himself now.

“Exactly! Thank you! Like, I mean...” Usnavi’s hands jerked around looking for something meaningful to add to the conversation. “I’m not crazy right? He’s always gettin’ _someone_ a coffee and he never mentions another living soul every time he’s in here.”

Sonny weighed his head side to side, eyes to the ceiling, in a considering sort of gesture, before looking back at Usnavi and shrugging noncommittally. “So just ask, yo.”

“Man, I can’t just ask, it’s weird.”

A cocksure smile spread slowly over Sonny’s face and Usnavi realised his gaze had shifted to the front door. Usnavi froze with his back still facing the street. This was some romcom bullshit, right here. Sonny’s eyes landed back on Usnavi, an undeniable glimmer of mischievousness to them now. “It ain’t weird, cuz, just ask him.”

As if the undeniable sound of John Laurens’ voice was a physical blow, Usnavi flinched to tense his shoulder’s up sharply when he heard “It’s probably not weird, don’t stress,” from behind him. Usnavi took a second to glare at Sonny before steeling himself and forcing a smile that looked excruciatingly like a grimace to literally everyone in the room.

John raised both eyebrows more than a touch and physically reclined a few inches. “Woah, okay, maybe it is weird.” He tipped his head to lock eyes with Sonny over Usnavi’s shoulder instead. “What’s going on in here?”

Sonny beamed from behind the counter and gave another meaningless shrug just for something to do. “Who’s the second coffee for, papa?”

Usnavi spun round in a flurry, arm outstretched to throw a simultaneous click and point gesture right at Sonny. “Hey! Shut up.” He spun back just as dramatically and was met with John’s surprisingly serious face.

“And why do you wanna know?” John arched an eyebrow in a way that somehow said ‘fight me,’ and Usnavi shrunk back a little where he stood. In an instant, John was smiling again, clearly trying to hold in a full body laugh as he waved one hand dismissively. Usnavi blew a shaky breath through pursed lips and glanced around nervously, still pretty unsure what emotions to be feeling.

Sonny let out a thoroughly-amused and completely inelegant squawk from back behind the counter and Usnavi felt a wave of second-hand embarrassment (or maybe this was straight up first-hand embarrassment?) wash over him, leaving his cheeks hot and probably flushed red.

“Oh my god, John, my dude, he totally shat himself, man!”

“Shut up!” Usnavi’s clipped response came out less authoritative and more flustered than he’d hoped for. “Go clean!” He moved around the counter to Sonny, chasing him with shooing arms the whole time, cutting off various broken protests until the kid reluctantly disappeared through the back door with a groan.  
Usnavi turned his attention back to John, now safe on the other side of his counter. He wasn’t sure what face to pull anymore, so he just stuck with ‘vaguely mortified but undeniably intense’. It made John chuckle.

“My partner.” John’s steady words came without context, and Usnavi couldn't help but narrow his still mildly terrified eyes at him. John huffed another breathy laugh and started again. “I’m always in here to get coffee for me and my partner.”

There was a slow-motion moment of realisation that animated Usnavi’s features before he figured it might be polite to not gape at John, however understatedly. “Right, so... You’re partner-”

“He lives on the stuff,” John nodded ruefully. “Total caffeine addict.”

“Ah.” Usnavi couldn’t hide the note of disappointment that coloured his acknowledging grunt. John had a partner. That was fine. That was to be expected, really. At least it was a dude. Usnavi wasn’t that far off his mark. Small victories, and all that.

 

“Yeah, still I guess I should be thankful, really. The more coffee he drinks, the more work we get done. And we always have a ton of work to do so,” John trailed off, seemingly lost in his own memories for a second. When he came back to himself, he took in Usnavi’s not-entirely-ecstatic expression and back tracked suddenly. “Oh, he’s my business partner! Alexander’s just my business partner, he’s not like... Although, I suppose it’s not quite as simple as all that.”

Usnavi stood stock still, eyes flitting from side to side, wondering what the fuck was happening to him. What day was it today? Why had everything suddenly gone loco?  
“I... What?”

John shot him an apologetic half-smile and stopped talking entirely, trying to find some words that might actually make sense. Usnavi appreciated the effort. He cleared his throat and levelled Usnavi with a determined stare, starting from the top and going slow.  
“I always come in and buy coffee for myself and for my business partner, Alexander. Alexander is not my significant-other-type partner.”

Usnavi gave one slow, exaggerated nod, eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

“And while there are complications to the me and Alexander...” John floundered a second, averting his gaze. “...Thing. They aren’t complications that could have any real bearing on the fact that I’m in here four days a week just to get coffee from you because I... actually really look forward. To seeing you. As often as possible.”

An unpredictably comfortable silence settled around the two as they looked on at each other. It dawned on Usnavi after a few moments that it was probably his turn to say something. And that he should probably make sure it wasn’t something dumb.  
He straightened up a little where he stood, setting his shoulders back and frowning in concentration while he considered a response. An easy smile graced his features as kept his eyes locked with John’s, and he found himself nodding just slightly at the whole situation in general.  
“Well, alright,” Usnavi replied, barely above a whisper.

“Alright?”

“Alright,” he repeated louder, with more confidence. John bared his teeth in a grin that showcased his dimples delightfully. Usnavi tried desperately to mentally screen-shot the image before him. “Cut it out with the face, John Laurens, or I’m a do something stupid, c’mon.”

John raised both eyebrows in enthusiastic intrigue. He took the last couple of steps up to the counter and firmly planted both palms on it, leaning in to Usnavi’s space. “So do something stupid, Usnavi.”

There was a flash of fear across Usnavi’s face and his breath hitched noticeably. He glanced quickly down at John’s mouth, tongue sneaking out to wet his own lips unconsciously. John gave him the same glance down and then back up to meet his eye.  
“I have to make you your coffee...” Usnavi breathed out, small voice trembling.

John leaned in closer, a smirk playing on his face. “Nah.”

It was Usnavi who moved forward the last few inches as their lips met. He accidentally kept his eyes open out of pure shock and disbelief for a few seconds, but once he remembered to let them fall closed, his full attention was on the soft, warm feel of John Laurens’ mouth against his. The way John’s nose fit snuggly beside his own. They way his full bottom lip pressed so tenderly at his skin, and then how the whole of John’s perfect mouth sealed around his bottom lip to suck and tug gently at it as they both pulled away.

Usnavi kept his eyes closed as he felt John’s body heat recede.  
“Nitido...” he uttered in a tiny, trembling voice. When he opened his eyes again, he was met with John’s intense and adoring gaze. The man tapped at the counter a few times to bring Usnavi back to reality and then cocked his chin back towards his fridge.

“I’ll take that coffee, now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johnsnavi is the cutest ship that I never even considered the existence of.  
> I am so proud of us, the fandom, for making it to this point in the Miranda Meta Fic world.
> 
> For as long as the Johnsnavi is fun to write, I will be happy to continue writing it. At the moment it seems to work best when kept relatively innocent. But if that changes, I'll just revise the rating of this. So basically: if they ever bang, everyone will get a color-coded heads up :)
> 
> The tiiiny bit of Español?  
>  **Nitido** is DR native slang (specific to its meaning here) and translates basically as "cool" or "that's cool." In other places it can mean "perfect" or sort of... unblemished like a cloudless sky? Which I thought gave its use here a nice, sappy double meaning.


	3. Once You Get Some Practice At It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Dinner date. With John Laurens._   
>  _Oh jeez, here we go._
> 
>  
> 
> Technically, this comes right after [But They Press Through the Mess](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5795947)

Usnavi was stealing fond glances at John Laurens with an occasional slide of his eyes. They were walking side by side. The night was warm but not stifling. The streets were calm but not abandoned. It was all very pleasant.

It was usually Usnavi’s tendency (much to his detriment, he understood) to spend date nights trying too hard. Either he would be trying too hard to engage or trying too hard to impress or just generally trying too hard to be chill and coming off as totally uninterested. He didn’t do a lot of dating, truth be told, so he was a bit out of practice pretty much every time he attempted it.

When John had caught him as he was closing up the shop one night (more of a pleasant surprise than a “motherflipping heart attack,” Usnavi had insisted in half-apology, right after using the phrase “motherflipping heart attack” in the moment) they had ended up organising to go for a casual dinner somewhere casual some time.  
Just casually.  
At the time, Usnavi had actually found a lot of comfort in John’s apparent _dis_ comfort, telling himself that their shared awkwardness was a good sign of things to come. To him it meant John wouldn’t outpace him in any way. They could sort of fumble along the road together, figure things out as they went. The John who had showed up to dinner that night had been different, unfortunately. Usnavi suspected he’d been sat down and given some kind of motivational pep talk from whatever Benny-esque figure existed in his life. That was fine, of course, and Benny had attempted to do the exact same for Usnavi that afternoon. It was just that Usnavi had a really hard time remembering to stay chill. And John, clearly, did not.

“Thanks for dinner,” Usnavi broke their silence after two whole minutes of trying to figure out whether or not it was a comfortable one. John had paid for them both (of course he had, that charming little shit) with a promise that Usnavi could get the next one on the proviso that there would be a next one. Usnavi had liked the sound of that, and given John a sly grin as he slid his wallet back into his (nicest pair of) jeans.

“My pleasure,” John all-out purred at him with a careful tilt of his head. Usnavi watched John’s eyes travel up and down him before his smile widened and he turned away again. Damn, that was such a good smile. It was so nice to be a repeat recipient of that smile. Usnavi could feel his expression shifting to the manic side of joyful and Benny’s voice popped in to his head, chiding him to _‘just be, like, a toned down version of you for the first time,’_ and so he quickly did his best to internalise the euphoria. At least for now.

“Hey, so,” Usnavi piped up again, bouncing a little as he walked because he seriously couldn’t repress the jittery enthusiasm of his everyday body language if he tried. “I don’t mean anything by this, for real, but do you do this a lot?” John shot him an inquisitive look and he back-tracked, nerves getting the better of him. “I mean, like, no, not a lot. I guess I just mean... The dating thing.” He hesitated a second but he could see John crack a little smile in his peripherals, so he pushed on. “Specifically the dating guys thing.”

John huffed a laugh and slid his hands in his pockets, watching straight ahead as they walked. “You don’t do a lot of the dating guys thing?” His question was heavily intoned by the implication that he already knew the answer. Usnavi wanted to be a little offended by that, but hey, it was true.

“Honestly? I’ve done some of it. You gotta be careful how much doin’ you do round our barrio; people talk.”

John gave a solemn nod of his head, face more serious now, and Usnavi felt enough at ease with the mood to elaborate for him. He gave a short, heavy sigh and shoved his own hands away in his back pockets. “I guess I’m just feeling a little... Super not on your level.”

John scoffed and screwed his face up incredulously. His nose wrinkled. It was cute as hell.

“I’m serious, yo!” There was a giggle trying to undermine Usnavi’s words, his eyebrows jumping right up to his hairline. “Especially with all that you said tonight... with your business partners... and complications and all... I dunno, I’m just a little worried that I’m kinda underprepared here.” Despite the tenuously vulnerable subject matter, Usnavi felt like he was doing a pretty sweet job of keeping it light and loose (at last). Or at least amusing.

“Oh. _Oh_ ,” John emphasised over dramatically and Usnavi gave him a playful shove with his elbow in response. “So what we’re talking about here is...” He stopped and looked over at Usnavi, one eyebrow raised and a cheeky grin on his face. Usnavi pressed his lips together and tried to look disapproving, although he was pretty sure it came off more like gassy.

“Look, aye, I’m just tryna be the bigger guy here,” Usnavi’s hands came back out so he could give a full-body shrug, “and let you know that if you’re after some dude to make you scream and shout, I might need a few practice runs at it. Just playin’ fair.” He went to keep walking but John stayed where he was. After a couple of paces Usnavi realised the guy wasn’t moving anywhere, and so paused to turn back and face John. He was being lit sort of intimidatingly by the golden spot of a street light. It was silly, but it made Usnavi toe the edge of the circle it cast rather than cross the line and come over to John. John was staring down at his own feet, concentrating deeply on whatever words he was trying to conjure together as a response. After a moment he looked up, right into Usnavi’s eyes, and squared his shoulders with a deep breath in through his nose.

“That’s really cool of you to say,” his voice was sure but a little rehearsed, making Usnavi wonder just how much effort had gone in to choosing that particular phrasing. “It’s really nice to hear that kind of honesty when it comes to this stuff.”  
Usnavi dipped his head, suddenly sheepish, and messed around with a pebble under his shoe for a few drawn out seconds. He didn’t really know what to say, so he just carried on saying nothing. When he risked a glance back up at John, he was doing his intense eye-contact thing again.

“Somehow I doubt I could think of any intimate encounters we might make happen as ‘practice runs,’ though, I’ve gotta say...” Maybe it was the streetlight or maybe John could actually make his eyes twinkle on command; Usnavi couldn’t tell.

“Myeeaah, not tryna put you off any of that intimate stuff,” Usnavi shot him a lop-sided smirk from the shadows outside his spot light. “Just, not sure I’d be all that good at, well, doin’ dudes just yet. Through sheer lack of experience, is all.”

“That’s what you meant by on my level?” It was only half a question, and John only asked it at half-volume before seemingly deciding exactly which direction to take them- conversationally- and powering on in earnest. “I straight up don’t believe in good and bad lovers or kissers or whatever-the-fuck. In my experience it always comes down to simple compatibility. Whether or not people fit together,” he took an experimental step towards Usnavi, “when they come together,” and then another.

Usnavi looked down at their feet where they now met either side of the light’s edge. He was sure there was something tragic or romantic or, in the very least, generally poetic about the image. But when he looked up again he realised just how close that put John’s face to his face, and any lyrical meaning vanished. The closeness felt different now than it had all night, though. It was somehow more comfortable. More wanted. Or he was (they were both) more ready for it. It kinda just felt natural to reach out and take John’s hands gently in his own. Just the lightest, most simple contact achievable. But an anchor all the same. A commitment from them both to being present and being sure and being openly all about each other by this point in their night.

Usnavi quirked one side of his mouth, the barest hint of a smile being all he really needed at this distance. He made sure to linger hopefully on John’s lips as he took in his face from only inches away. “Well,” Usnavi licked his lips quickly to remedy the effect of his own breathy words. “Then, I guess, I really hope we fit together.”

He watched closely as John’s tongue darted out to soften his own lips, leaving a gentle smile on his mouth. That was invitation enough for Usnavi. He tilted his head carefully and pressed forward, up against the heat of John’s skin. A warm puff of air hit his cheek as John let out a tiny, soundless sigh through his nose. He was so soft and warm. That was all Usnavi could think the whole time; _my God, he’s so soft and warm._ As they both kept decidedly pressed to each other’s mouths, Usnavi was actively fighting an overwhelming urge to push as much of his face up against as much of John’s face as he could manage. Instead, he shuffled himself until he was very literally toe-to-toe with John, and slowly laced their fingers together.

Neither of them had any intention of pulling away further than a hair’s breadth for longer than a second, and the zero-G summersault feeling in Usnavi’s stomach only intensified as he met John for a second and then a third peck at his lips. It was, admittedly, a little weird being forced by their own feet to stand either side of a foot-wide gap, and while Usnavi was really starting to wish for an easy way to hold John’s body tight against him, he was also thankful for the amount of self-sufficient balance the stance allowed for. He knew from vast experience that getting knocked off your feet by a kiss was way more awkward and embarrassing in reality.  
John was apparently also getting antsy about the distance, and Usnavi felt actual, noticeable goosebumps rise over every part of him as John pulled one hand free of their embrace and dragged it slowly up his chest, snaking it round the back of his neck and then firmly holding him in place. He broke away from Usnavi again, but when he dipped his head back in this time, it was to bestow chaste, open-mouthed kisses all over Usnavi’s bottom lip, sucking just barely each time he pulled back. A gorgeous whimper accompanied John’s latest kiss as he was met with Usnavi’s fractionally parted lips at last. The thump of Usnavi’s heart seemed to echo through his whole chest as he gave John’s idle hand a gentle squeeze and pushed the tip of his tongue just past his own lips. He touched at the wet skin of John’s mouth. He pushed a little further in. He felt the the slide of John’s tongue. His breath started to quit him in desperate pants through his nose, matching the shallow exhales John was breathing in to his skin. The hand around his neck applied pressure, fingertips digging in pleasantly as John cocked his head further to the side and pushed his whole tongue past Usnavi’s lips, lapping generously at the roof of his mouth and painting the insides of his teeth.  
Usnavi moaned loudly- mostly accidentally- from deep in his throat and pulled back, another strangled noise slipping off his panting tongue as he did.

“Oh, damn,” he legitimately sounded in some kind of pain as he pressed his forehead against John’s with eyes firmly shut. “Ok, so we definitely fit together, yeah?”

“Yeah,” John breathed in reply. Usnavi could feel the guy’s chest heaving in an effort to suck in enough oxygen to keep him standing upright. “Yeah, we fit together, definitely. But actually, I’m now much more concerned with the part where we come together.”

Usnavi opened his eyes suddenly, expression perking up visibly. One glance at John’s blissed-out, yearning expression and he was one hundred percent confident he was reading all the signs exactly as intended. He tugged at John’s hand, stumbling backwards and drawing them both away from the light. “C’mon. My place is three blocks up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) ;) ;)
> 
> Still having a good ol' time over here. Are you?


	4. (Oh My God) It's Gotten Too Darn Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _So he's at your place and you made him tea and he's pressed up next to you on the couch but, like... Now what?_

Standing in the gap between the end of his modest kitchen bench and the muddy-orange wall of his apartment, Usnavi was suddenly struck with that feeling of _‘what the fuck did I come in here for, again?’_ He looked down at the two mugs of tea he was armed with. Then over to where John Laurens sat on his thrifted couch. Then back behind him for a moment just to... check that there wasn’t anything behind him he needed to check.

“You okay? You look a little startled for a guy standing in the middle of his own living room,” John’s voice was a gentle blend of amusement and curiosity. Usnavi looked down again, still at a loss. The tea was a gentle blend of honey and jasmine. He could remember that much.

“Urh,” he attempted lamely, moving towards the couch and handing a mug down to John. “Just having a moment, no stress. This is tea. It’s jasmine tea.” John emitted some kind of high pitched chuckle and took the offered mug before settling back against the couch again.

“I know it’s jasmine tea,” he freed a hand to pat the spot next to him. “I did, in fact, ask you for jasmine tea.”

Usnavi carefully lowered himself to the couch, then carefully lowered his mug to the floor. “Ha, right. Sure.” Why was he like this? Why did he have to do this? So there was a hot guy in his house, on his couch, wrapping slender fingers around his faded Garfield mug. Did it really have to follow that he lost all his shit? Usnavi gave himself a few indulgent seconds to look at those fingers. They looked nice. They looked nimble.

John leered at him as he blew over the steaming cup, taking a slow sip and then placing it by his feet to match Usnavi. “Seriously, if this is all too uncomfortable for you, I don’t mind leaving. My place isn’t that far, it’s really no trouble. Just say...” Big brown eyes looked up at him from beneath delicate lashes and Usnavi felt a pang of guilt.  
He’d been the one to invite John back in the first place (although he had definitely been a little foggy from their kiss at the time) and now here he was acting like the guy had pulled a B&E to get in here. Tea was a good start, but he really had to work on the hospitality from here on in. Get comfy again. Get close again. Maybe get kissing again. No pare, sigue, sigue. Cool. He fixed his eyes on John’s and forced himself to find his voice.

“I don’t want you to leave.” Not a _terrible_ start. Maybe a little abrupt, but it got the message across. “I don’t want that. Sorry if I’m kinda weird, you’re sorta... Well, you’re sorta makin’ me nervous, actually.”  
Usnavi expected to see John’s expression shift in some way- to intrigued or humoured or even just skeptical- but he kept steady eye contact and a carefully neutral face. It probably would have made anyone else even more nervous, but instead it sucked Usnavi further in to John’s allure. There really was an intensity to the guy that he just couldn’t look away from.

“Usanvi?” John’s voice was soft and gentle. No demand, no pressure.

“Yo?” The response slipped out before he could check it, but sitting this close to John, face to face and caught in his insistent stare, Usnavi could hardly think of another way to answer.

“Can I ask you what you want to do tonight?” John gave a fractional tip of his head and Usnavi swallowed heavily. There was a slowly rising tension between them, like the innocent pull of two magnets, subtle but undeniably there across the small span of couch between them. Usnavi must have spent a little too long getting lost in the thrum of that tension, he realised as John started speaking again.

“As much as I appreciate the tea as a stand-alone gesture; thinking of the tea as a stepping-stone to more, ah, intimate shared acts, certainly would make it taste even sweeter.”

A kind smile had found its way to John’s face by the time he’d finished his eloquent spiel. Meanwhile Usnavi was plainly agog with marvel.

“I don’t know how you make those words do those things they do for you,” Usnavi emphasised with wide eyes, “but it’s great.”  
John broke in to a genuine, uninhibited laugh and Usnavi couldn’t help but join in, watching closely as John’s eyes squeezed shut and his cheeks pinched the skin tight around his mouth. As they both settled their heads back against the couch, body language neatly mirrored, Usnavi took his chance to shuffle himself in a couple of inches. Casual but still pretty obviously weighted with intent. He got a sly grin from John in acknowledgment.

“So,” John nuzzled the side of his face against the couch in an attempt to push a few loose curls out of his eyes. “Tell me you invited me up for more than just tea? Please?” They shared another light snicker and Usnavi felt himself blush just slightly. John looked hopeful and cocky all at once. He was sitting so close now that Usnavi could swear he actually felt the magnetic pull, actively drawing his head further in. Definitely, he could feel little pricks of heat all through his body. It was almost like hunger. Almost like his brain was urging him to lean in and taste John. Any part. Every part. All over, oh God, every inch of him under Usnavi’s tongue.

Usnavi managed to vocalise a frustrated whining kind of noise before he raised a hand to cover his eyes and bit at his bottom lip to try and suppress the stupid grin he was wearing.

“What?” John teased, the smile evident in his words somehow. Usnavi felt those nimble fingers (cool and softer than he expected) wrap around his wrist and he let John pull his hand away again. His vision came back in to focus and he realised John was even closer now; every freckle across his perfect nose, around his shining eyes, above his puckered lips... clear and countable.  
Torture. There was no other word for it.

“C’mon,” John whispered, low and insistent. “It’s important to talk. It’s important to me that we say this stuff out loud. Make sure everyone’s on the same page.”

Usnavi gave a serious little nod. “Not just tea,” he forced out, a little shaky, but gained ground as he went on. “Was really hoping tonight would be more than just tea. And sitting. Nice as that is, honest.” John glanced down and placed a cautious hand on Usnavi’s thigh. Usnavi let out a shuddering breath and caught John’s nod of encouragement as he looked back up in to his eyes.

“I... don't think I actually know what I wanna do with tonight? Like, beyond tea?”

“That’s cool. Is that ’cause you have no preference? Or ’cause you’re not sure what we _could_ do?”

Usnavi pressed his lips together, trying to make thought happen while John’s hand stroked casually over his jeans. “Probably both of those mixed together. But it’s like, probando e que se guisa, yunno?”

“My Spanish isn’t Dominican, but I think I get the idea, sí.”  
Was it possible to want John Laurens more? Probably not at this particular moment. Usnavi swallowed another embarrassingly large smile of endearment and moved his own hand across the divide between them, landing it firmly on John’s thigh, and apparently much higher up than John had expected.

“Can I be totally honest for a sec?” Usnavi asked as sincerely as possible.

“That. Is my favourite thing to be,” replied John resolutely.

“I’m, like, crazy turned on right now, just sittin’ here, lookin’ at you.” The bashful grin that his words brought out in John was well worth the all-consuming adrenaline now surging through Usnavi. “It’s so intense, you have no idea, like... My _mouth_ is _watering_ just remembering what you taste like. I feel like a school kid, I swear. You’re gonna have to kiss me or something or I’m a lose my goddamn mind over this tension.”

John slid his hand further up Usnavi’s thigh, challenging him to do the same. He flashed his teeth in a grin as he felt Usnavi follow along, steadily closing the distance between them until they’re lips met at last.  
Usnavi dragged in a heavy breath through his nose, somehow caught off guard despite all the build up. John’s lips felt just like they had earlier on the street; soft and warm. It was heaven. He squeezed his hand around John’s thigh, pressing his fingers in with unashamed desperation. Maybe it was the change of setting or the promise of things to come or maybe it was just a natural progression from their first make-out experience- Usnavi didn’t know and he didn’t care- but everything was so much more heated than before. The kiss quickly deepened, tongue’s sliding against one another and biting and licking every time either of them pulled back only to press in again, urgently seeking more.  
John’s hand shifted to rub assertively at the crotch of Usnavi’s jeans and he couldn’t help but let slip a strangled moan, higher and needier than he’d hoped it would be. Clawing his own hand around the curve of John’s ass, he pulled them both up to their knees on the couch, still mouthing hungrily at each other.

John’s torso was hot and hard against Usnavi’s stomach. He wrapped both hands around John’s back and tried uselessly to pull him in even tighter. John’s erection was hot and hard against Usnavi’s hip. When John gripped him by his ass and ground a slow, deliberate stroke up against him, the sounds that fell from Usnavi’s lips were animalistic. It seemed to spur John on even more, making him break fully from Usnavi’s mouth and start to suck wide, enveloping kisses down his neck to the collar of his shirt. Usnavi yelped and gripped helplessly at John’s curls. He was proud of exactly none of the sounds he had made so far tonight, but his head was spinning and his whole body was tingling as he felt John push closed lips against his collar bone and then slide them open, still pressed to his skin, tongue hot and wet as it licked at him. The only real thought occupying Usnavi’s brain was _‘holy fuck, can a kiss make you come?’_ and then suddenly it was cold and he looked down to realise John had stripped his shirt right off him. John had stripped his shirt and was licking his way down to Usnavi’s nipple. He was gripping Usnavi firmly around the waist, one arm splayed out up his back for support as Usnavi arched back in exposed surrender.

Lips sucked hungrily around his nipple and Usnavi cried out, his whole face pulled taut with anguish. “Ah! Fuck! John, wait! Wa-wa-wait, hold up...”

John lifted his head immediately, searching Usnavi’s eyes with a look of acute panic. “What, what is it? You okay?”

Usnavi grabbed at John’s shoulders, trying to draw himself a little more upright again, mainly for the sake of his dwindling dignity. He let out a couple of breaths through pursed lips before making sure to smile eagerly in John’s direction.

“Ay, fuck, yeah, I’m...We gotta stop a minute.”

John still looked worried, unconvinced by Usnavi’s expression. “Yeah, course. We can stop completely if you need-” Usnavi shook his head emphatically to cut him off. He started again, more decisive. “What do you need?”

Usnavi let his hands glide down to John’s pecs and fixed him with the most intense excitement glare he could muster. “I need you to take me to bed right now or I’ma come in my jeans, Papi.”

He watched John’s eyes widen and then next thing he knew, Usnavi was being wrenched enthusiastically off the couch and rough-housed towards his own bedroom, John murmuring under his breath as he went.

“Oh my fucking _God_ , yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I sure am dragging out what is essentially one sex scene :D :D :D
> 
> You're DR-specific Spanish for the day:  
>  **No pare, sigue, sigue** makes grammatical sense as long as it's used as the famous DR saying, translating as "Don't stop, go, go." (Like, get it, gurrrl!)  
>  **Probando e que se guisa** is slang/proverbial and means "try it and then you'll know."  
>  Put it in to Google Translate for a giggle and poor John's rough understanding.  
> He is fluent in this verse (actual John Laurens had no trouble learning the languages relevant to his historical context) it's just colloquialism is hard.


	5. Tonight's All We Got, So We Cannot Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It's that moment we've all been waiting for. At last._

Usnavi had been struck with the foresight to make his bed before leaving for the date that night. He had scurried around his room closing drawers all the way and kicking dirty socks under the bed, _just in case_. Not because he was a desperate saddo, only because he enjoyed being thoroughly prepared. In fact, his preparations had stretched as far as two days earlier in the bodega, where he had surreptitiously rummaged to the back of the condom section to find the box with the most distant expiry date. Better to be on the safer side of safety.  
A borderline obsessive-compulsive part of his brain was now musing _aw damn, wish I’d had a chance to brush my teeth again,_ but then the real suave player part of his brain had leant over and slapped that part, pointedly drawing his attention back to the hand John Laurens was presently using to grind against the hardness in his jeans.

The bed-making had been a little bit for nothing in the end, seeing as they’d stumbled into the room without even bothering to flip the lights and then quickly fallen on to the mattress together, crawling and kissing and rolling about until the whole thing was a crazy mess anyway. Although this time for a much, much better reason.

“This is this best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Usnavi whispered, and it was an obvious exaggeration, but it made John giggle all the same. Usnavi wanted to just close his eyes and fall back on the sheets and take in the sensations. But he also really wanted to watch every second of John devouring him and being devoured in turn. Ay fuck, his life was so hard sometimes. 

Usnavi got his hands under the fabric of John’s shirt and John sat back on his knees eagerly to help tug it up over his head and throw it off into some corner. Fuck tidy bedrooms. This shit was atmospherically sexy. Suggestively sexy. Sexy by association. God, John was sexy.  
He had come back down to effectively press his lean torso skin-to-skin with Usnavi’s from hip bone to collar bone. Warm. Smooth. Tight with flexing muscles.

“Tell me what you like,” John’s voice was husky in his ear. He rolled his hips against Usnavi’s in a slow, steady rhythm and Usnavi squeezed his eyes shut tight, tried his best to hold back the little whimpers at the edge of his breathing. “Wanna make sure you’re good. This is good for you.”

Prince fucking Charming, except the adults-only version. If he wasn’t so busy biting down hard on his lip to keep from making a mess in his jeans, Usnavi was sure he could shed a real tear over how beautiful and perfect and amazing this boy was. Fuck it, he might just do it anyway.

“Goddamn, this is... I mean everything- anything. Anything you decided to do to me right now, I would love you for,” Usnavi could feel the strain in his throat as he forced words out, any words as long as they made John keep doing whatever the fuck he wanted to him. John gave a dark little chuckle under his breath and nuzzled into Usnavi’s neck, tending to the soft skin there with loose kisses and laps of his tongue and tiny experimental nips of his teeth. He worked his way back up towards Usnavi’s ear and hit upon a sweet spot that Usnavi never knew he had. He cried out sharply, clenched fists in John’s loose hair and arched his whole torso up off the bed.

“Oh God! Oh, _God,_ fuck, John, do more of that please, yes, again,” Usnavi had no volume control at this point. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he was probably being way too loud for his small bedroom in his thin-walled apartment, but it barely even registered beneath the sharp pangs of pleasure pulling through his stomach and throbbing down to the head of his cock as John licked and sucked below his ear. Usnavi could just hear him mumbling in between; gorgeously reverent strings of words like _so hot_ and _taste amazing_ and _fucking incredible._

Fucking incredible. Usnavi really had to agree. Right now this night seemed very likely to turn out the greatest night of Usnavi’s life. With the vague sense of physical awareness left in him, Usnavi unclenched one fist and dragged nails down John’s back before hooking tight beneath the curve of his ass, squeezing and pulling at the very top of his thigh. John gave a deep hum of appreciation and Usnavi squeezed again. Such a nice ass. Just- tight and round and exactly the right amount. Usnavi was such an obvious ass man, damn.

John broke himself off and panted for a second. “‘Snavi, hey?”  
Usnavi moaned in reply, so far blissed out already that it sounded almost post-coital. There was a pause and Usnavi opened his eyes, looked up at John to find him waiting for him.

“Hey, can I get your jeans off?”

“Long as I can get yours off, hell yeah.” Some trademark playfulness crept back into Usnavi’s words as he caught his breath at last. John gave him a sly smile in return and then looked down between them. Usnavi waited a second, stock still, then lifted his head to look as well.

“Everything... cool?” If John was having second thoughts, Usnavi would definitely have to shed that tear he’d been considering. He heard John take a steadying breath in through his nose and then blow it slowly through pursed lips. He gave a quick little nod of his head and then looked back into Usnavi’s face.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m cool.” John looked awful serious. Usnavi tried to read him beyond that but all he could be sure of was that intensity, back full-force now, for better or worse. Usnavi let his eyebrows twitch up a little. Curiosity with a dash of concern.

“I’m just...” John’ swallowed, let his eyes roam over Usnavi’s features as he spoke. “I’m really into you. I’m really into this. I’m... Just tryna calm the fuck down a little.”

Internally, Usnavi clawed at his hair and gave a whiney sort of squee sound. Internally.  
“I am so glad to hear you say that.” John ducked his head to hide the flush of red that had coloured his cheeks.  
“I really am,” Usnavi went on insistently, “because, I’m gonna be totally honest with you, I could not calm the fuck down right now if I tried-”

John straight up giggled and let his head fall to Usnavi’s shoulder.

“And this is not usually how it goes with me, but I am seriously gonna come so hard within, like, ten seconds of you touching my dick. So. That’s a thing right now. Heads up.”

John laughed a little more fully as Usnavi shrugged from beneath him. Ideally the break in the tension would slow Usnavi’s orgasm down a bit. And even if it didn’t, he’d at least gotten it out in the open that this might be a less-than-impressive first attempt.

John lifted his head again, sly grin up one side of his face, and moved his hand to hover over the button of Usnavi’s jeans.  
“Ten seconds?” He asked.

Usnavi licked his lips and swallowed. He couldn't make words come out so he forced his head into a slow nod instead. John narrowed his eyes and smiled a little wider.

“Hmm.”

John shuffled down the bed, agile fingers going to work while Usnavi watched from above. It almost felt like it could be terror pulsing through him, Usnavi’s heart was thumping so fast and loud inside his chest. Felt like any second now his vision would tunnel and his hearing would tune out and he’d just pass out from being turned too far on. Usnavi didn’t even blink as he watched John delicately pull his jeans open, breathing going obscenely loud and ragged as he traced the outline of Usnavi’s erection with his eyes.  
John looked so beautiful staring him right in the dick. He looked fucking wild. He looked fucking hungry- _puta madre_ , maybe ten seconds was a generous estimate.

“What are you gonna do to me?” Usnavi’s voice trembled. Barely a whisper.  
John took a moment to consider before dragging his gaze away from Usnavi’s straining cock, locking eyes with him from halfway down the bed. His chest heaved noticeably. His eyes were darker than Usnavi had ever seen them so far.

“What I really wanna do... is take you out and look at you for a bit. Flushed all red and pretty. Aching hard.”

“Uh huh..?”

“Wanna feel you hot and heavy against my palm. And then swallow you whole. Taste you on the back of my tongue. Suck you ‘til you scream for me-”

“Nnngah! Jesus, _fuck!_ ” Usnavi thrust a hand down to squeeze at the base of his cock in desperation, eyes scrunched tight shut again and teeth clenched so hard it made his head hurt. A full body shudder shook through him. His cock jerked once, twice against his stomach and he tamped down tighter until he felt the edge of his orgasm creep back down into the base of his spine again. Slowly he eased up off himself, letting his head relax back into the bed and blinking his eyes open.

“Holy shit, that was close. Holy shit. John, holy shit.” There was no response from John so Usnavi cautiously let his gaze drift from the ceiling back down to where John was still poised and ready. John looked... As if he had slipped completely from this plane of existence. He gave a low growl in the back of his throat and wrenched Usnavi’s briefs down as far as his jeans would allow.

Usnavi’s cock sprung back against his hip, thick and heavy and right in front of John’s face.  
A pathetic sort of whimper bubbled against the roof of Usnavi’s mouth.

“Do it,” said John, and sucked his hot wet mouth right down to Usnavi’s root.

The first cry sounded through Usnavi mostly out of shock.  
“Ah, John, I’m gonna-”  
The second tuned itself to a higher pitch as the pleasure rippled inside him.  
“Fuck, fuck, I’m-”  
By the third he was clawing desperately at the back of John’s neck, his shoulders, his hair, toes curling into the bedsheets and thighs trembling beneath John’s bruising hands. Words turned into stutters turned into uninhibited moans. Over and over the noises poured out of him, and then he could hear John echoing each one as he kneaded his tongue down the length of Usnavi’s cock. Usnavi could feel it right through him as his balls tensed up, could hear John groaning, could feel it thrumming against his skin, could hear himself pushing out more and more panicked cries as his muscles twisted and he broke out in full-body shivers.

Usnavi’s eyes rolled back. He heard himself sob. He collapsed back onto the mattress. Steadily, his breathing fell back into formation. He could move his limbs again, albeit clumsily. Quiet hums were catching on the ends of each exhale he managed, a thin layer of sweat over every inch of still-hot skin. Usnavi forced his eyes open and tried to find John in his slightly-fuzzy field of vision.

John was sweat-sheened, too. He was still perched over Usnavi’s lap, mouth now open and panting. From what Usnavi could make out, he looked almost in shock.

“Sorry,” Usnavi offered raggedly. “I did say.”

John blinked a few times and seemed to make it back to reality. He stared up at Usnavi wide-eyed, a faint smile on his lips. “Don’t you dare apologise. That was one of the hottest things I’ve ever had happen to me.”

Usnavi huffed out a shy laugh. “How the fuck do you think I feel?”

A full and oddly sincere-looking smile graced John’s features and he bit down gently on his bottom lip. It didn’t make any sense, but Usnavi could swear he was shining with post-orgasmic glow himself. Usnavi flapped his hand uselessly against John’s shoulder.

“Hey. Hey, come up here. How are you?”

John obliged, dragging himself back up the bed and flopping down next to Usnavi’s useless form. “I’m good. I’m very good. How are you?”

“I think I actually died, probably.” John snickered at him. “I think maybe my soul left my body at some point there and now I’m just chilling’ in heaven, yunno?”

John rolled himself up on one elbow and arched an eyebrow at Usnavi. “So, do they have blowjobs over there in heaven?”

Usnavi used every last ounce of effort he had to reach up and plant a drawn out kiss on John’s cheek. “They certainly do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a looong, long time in the making, obviously, but I'm glad I got around to it.  
> It could finish there pretty satisfactorily (I think) or eventually have a 'favour-returned' chapter to follow, depends.  
> Depends if I can find anything new and interesting to make of it.
> 
> If this is the end: I had a lot of fun on this journey. Thanks for joining me :)
> 
> Comments and feedback and suggestions to all this super welcomed, as always.
> 
> [Additionally: ay, yo, this is lame but check it out I totally got to name drop the series in this chapter *dumb smile* love that shit...]

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first storyline I wrote for the Café con Revolution universe, and I'm fond of it.  
> Because I'm fond of writing Usnavi.  
> Because he's delightful.


End file.
